Page 1 of 11
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 03
April 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 463
Literacy Differentials among Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes
and Non Schedule Castes/Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and
Kashmir, India: A District Wise Study
Subash Kumar
M.Phil Research Scholar. Department Of Economics, Jammu University (180006),J&K,India
Email:subasheconomics@gmail.com.
ABSTRACT
Although British conquest in India ruined
Indian economy but it has some positive
contribution
for national building in India. The
process of modernization and
industrialization in India started by
Britishers in the form of railway
construction, modern education, science
and technology, modern industry
confronted Indian society of altogether
new situation and thus need was felt to
advance modern education among Indians.
Such an education provided scheduled
caste and scheduled tribes in India an
opportunity to for significant social
advance. The ideology of liberalism helped
them to join the process of transition from
oppression and caste ridden society to a
more egalitarian society based on the
concept of equality, justice and freedom. It
also helped them to join modern
occupation helping imperialist to survive.
The government started the policy of
reservation although politically
motivated in favor of scheduled caste and
scheduled tribes. In post independence
period also Indian government took
challenging task of advancing protective
discrimination favor of scheduled caste and
scheduled tribes in form reservation in
legal, Political, occupational reservation
to help them to come at par with other
section of society and to grow on their own
feet. Special efforts were made for
educational advancement of SC/ST in
country by providing financial and other
facilities to students belonging to these
backward sections but even today SC/ST
population is lagging behind than others.
Besides there are wide disparities from
region to region. The major objective of
this paper is to assess regional pattern of
literacy differential between SC,ST and
non SC/ST population and also male
/female differential between SC,ST and
non SC/ST population in state of Jammu
and Kashmir (India) to get an insight into
educational attainment of these section of
which literacy is an important component.
This study is mainly based on secondary
sources. In Jammu and Kashmir ST
constitute of 11.89% of total population
and SC
7.3 %of total population constituting
about combined SC/ST population in
Jammu and Kashmir. In 2011 in J&K
,literacy level of scheduled caste was
60.55% and that of scheduled tribe it was
40.29% and non SC/ST has literacy rate of
58.33.literacy rate of scheduled caste
female is 31.725% and of male is
48.20%.the literacy of scheduled tribe
female is31.72% and that of male is
48.20%
.
KEY WORDS: literacy, society.
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Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
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e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 03
April 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 464
Introduction
The terms scheduled caste and scheduled
tribes are used in legal sense. The term
SC/ST is used
in context of statuary provisions, government
programmes and policies. Outside this
context there are no SC/ST but numerous
communities each of which having its own
language, culture and tradition. They are
“scheduled” by the government and can be
legitimately treated as single category only
while dealing with this aspect of relationship
with the government. Thus SC/ST is not
sociological but administrative categories of
population identified by the constitution of
India for the compensatory discrimination
and for special protection.Education also
provide the children with the means to
participate fully in their communities
(UNESCO, 2000). Accelerated progress in
education is critical for the economic
development of any nation and the
achievement of the wider Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) in areas such as
poverty reduction, nutrition, child survival
and maternal health (Psacharopoulos and
Wood hall, 1985; Lucas, 1988; Barro, 1991;
Mankiw, Romer and Weil, 1992) Formal
schooling is good index of education. The
most minimum measurement of educational
attainment is degree of literacy. But the word
literacy is not simple to define as Ghosh
(1985) states that as to how literacy is very
difficult to define .Often it is not very easy
to draw list of factor which influence
literacy rate and education. The degree of
urbanisation,political background, the type of
economy, status of women all seem to
influence literacy .literacy is essential to
engage in the process of learning and
education. Scheduled caste and scheduled
tribes are most backward section in India
who has faced exploitation and injustice since
long. The SC/ST been historically excluded- form formal education- former due to
oppression under caste feudal society and
latter due to their spatial isolation and
cultural differences and subsequent
marginalization by dominant society. There
are subsequent differences between these two
categories in terms of socioeconomic location
and nature of disabilities. However there
is common ground today in terms of
conditions of economic exploitation and
social discrimination hat arise out of impact
of iniquitous development process.
Review of Literature: Biradar and
Jayasheela (2007) found that gap in
respect of Literacy between scheduled
caste/tribes and non SC/ST continued to be
high and there is still a lot of illiteracy
among SC/ST in India. Such a gap causes
unequal access to better job options, meager
earnings, incidence of poverty, health hazards
and thereby resulting in powerlessness.
Kochar (2007) found that despite various
governmental programmes the gap in
schooling between upper and lower caste
continued to be high in rural areas. Naidu
(2004 found that even those among lower
caste who are literate have lower
educational attainment and there is little
downward mobality.He found that in his
sample area there is positive improvement
among those who are getting complementary
benefits of urbanisation,devolpment and
progressive legislation. Srinivasa Rao (2002)
suggested that there should be diversity in
education system of higher education as he
found that as compared to others SC/ST were
having little share in higher education despite
various constitutional safeguards. That
education does not remove untouchablity as
such an evil is deeply embebed in social
structure and also attitude of police towards
Dalits is apathetic and police fail to address
the grievances of Dalit community. Police are
not sensitized to take seriously atrocities and
discrimination against SC.That education
does not remove untouchablity as such an
evil is deeply embebed in social structure and
also attitude of police towards Dalits is
apathetic and police fail to address the
Page 3 of 11
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 03
April 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 465
grievances of Dalit community. Police are
not sensitized to take seriously atrocities
and discrimination against
Dalits. Typically they perceive the Dalits
as having provoked the dominant castes
by not conforming to their will and wishes.
They do not see atrocities and discrimination
against Dalits as crimes. They are under
continuous pressure from the elected
representatives and local politicians of the
same dominant caste as the perpetrators of the
atrocity. Sakshi Human Rights Watch (2000)
Sharma (1996) found that there exist
disparity in educational attainment of
different sub caste in scheduled case category
but all of them are suffering from the
problems of indebtness, backwardness and
most importantly illiteracy. Puran singh
(1989) found that facilities provided by
government to scheduled caste students are
needed by them but these are not
administered properly. Parvathamma and
Satyanarayana (1984) found that majority
of mothers of scheduled case students were
illiterates and more 50% of their father were
illiterate. The father of scheduled caste
students were mostly agricultural laborers
and mothers had no formal occupation and
were working as housewife. Suma Chitnis
(1975)found that reservation and other
financial benefits given scheduled caste has
created another kind of inequality within
these castes as majority of students in these
caste come from higher and privileged
families. India is only democracy in world
that made constitutional and legal provision
for compensatory discrimination popularly
known as reservations for the advancement
of socially and economically backward
section of the society. It has been striving
for its commitment to overarching
conception of equality in terms of basic
freedom and imperatives of compensatory
discrimination in favor of schedule caste and
scheduled tribe families. Reservation were
aimed to give backward classes a helping
hand which will help them to compete with
upper classes in a fair manner. But these
measures have been partial enforced and
impact has been much less than desired.
Educational and economic backwardness
among tribes in India is worse than SC’s.
First Indian education commission of 1982
has maintained that schools should be open to
all caste. Britishers also enacted certain laws
which aimed at reservation for SC’s and ST
although these measures were politically
motivated. Dr.B.R.Amebedkar tried very
hard for the welfare of SC’c and at times he
clashed with what Gandhi ji visualized of
Indian society. During the process of
framing of constitution also
DR.B.R.Ambedkar-the chairmen of drafting
committee worked hard and made to include
special provisions in the constitution for the
SC’c and ST’s. the constitutional guarantees
says that state shall with special care promote
educational and economic interest of
scheduled caste and scheduled tribe and
protect them from social injustice.
Recognizing the need and importance of
education of these people the first five year
plan of India says that education is, most
urgent need of these communities. The
untouchablity act of
1955 also facilitates schooling of these
people. The commission in1955
commented that problem of education in
most states is chiefly problem of backward
sections for it is they who are extremely
backward in education. A decade’s later first
education pointed theses two disparities .on is
among boys and girls and second is disparity
of educational development between
advanced classes, scheduled caste and
scheduled tribes. A committee of six
members of parliamentary in 1968
reported that despite increasing attention,
the disparity between SC/ST and average
society as whole still continues to be high.
National policy on education
1968 also called for serious efforts to
develop education among backward
communities. Repot of commissioner on
